Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the butter and use your fingers to pinch the butter and the flour mixture together; when it's all combined, it will resemble large bread crumbs.

2. Use a wooden spoon to mix in the brown sugar and raisins, and then add the buttermilk. If the dough is quite sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough has the texture of modeling clay. If it's too dry, add more buttermilk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it's wet enough.

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and roll it out into a rectangle 1/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into 12 (3-inch) squares. Leftover scraps can be rerolled to make more scones.

4. Oil a baking sheet. Fold each square of dough in half diagonally to form a triangle, and lay it on the sheet. Bake the scones until the tops are golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve warm, with jam and a pot of hot tea if you like.

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These were heavier than white flour scones, as you'd expect -- but I liked them a lot. I ran out of brown sugar and only used about 3/4 c, which turned out to be about right; I think a whole cup would be too sweet. I also subbed soy milk with vinegar for the buttermilk since that's what I had, and that worked out fine. Also, I ended up with about 18 normal-looking-to-me-sized scones instead of 12.